Once heralded as the death knell for traditional laptops and desktop PCs, tablets are continuing their slow slide into tech history’s scrapheap as the worldwide sales declined 7pc year-over-year in the second quarter of 2015.
According to a report released by IDC today (29 July), 44.7m units were sold in the period, which also marks a 3.9pc drop when compared to the first quarter of 2015.
Apple’s iPad continues to be the most popular tablet on the market, maintaining its lead with 10.9m units shipped in Q2. Samsung is in second place, boasting 7.6m devices shipped and 17pc market share, while Lenovo is third with 2.5m units and 5.7pc share of the market. LG and Huawei ended the quarter in a statistical tie for fourth place, rounding out the top 5 with each shipping 1.6m units.
This latest sales drop is not surprising. The popularity of tablets has been falling for quite some time as new, larger smartphones – such as the iPhone 6 Plus with its massive 5.5in screen – have caused devices like the iPad to become increasingly obsolete. That users can install the latest operating systems on their older tablets is also likely to have hindered the initial enthusiasm for the product in the consumer market.
In its last financial results announcement, Apple revealed that the iPad had suffered a 23pc decline in sales. The company is unlikely to tolerate such sluggish numbers, having not been afraid to do away with the once lucrative iPod by putting its functionality into the iPhone and subsequently iPad devices.
Tablet image via Shutterstock